Category: Track and field

 

 

Ahead of the inaugural Grand Slam Track in Kingston this weekend, Jamaican fans are making their complaints known on high cost of tickets and possible parking inconvenience.

Organizers of Grand Slam Track League in Kingston may be thrown into last minute frenzy, following recent complaints by Jamaican track fans on high cost of tickets going as high as US $200 and possible parking inconvenience.

 

The inaugural meet scheduled to hold at the Jamaican National Stadium on the newly re-laid track, will take place this weekend from April 4th – 6th.

 

 

Legendary American sprinter Michael Johnson is the commissioner of the Grand Slam Track League

Despite some A-list track athletes announced to feature in the three-day meet, Jamaican fans aren’t having the high cost of tickets and parking inconvenience set by the organisers.

 

‘We are responsible for majority of the bill’ – GST League venue director reveals re-laid $800,000 Jamaican stadium track was joint effort

‘We are responsible for majority of the bill’ – GST League venue director reveals re-laid $800,000 Jamaican stadium track was joint effort

An X user tweeted: “You know Grandslam Track is asking for failure though. Did they actually study the Jamaican market?”

 

This tweet has garnered several reactions of divided opinions with many questioning the long route of alternative parking details set by Grand Slam Track, while others are against the high cost of tickets.

 

The highly anticipated meet has attracted top names such as Olympic champions Gabby Thomas, Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone, and Masai Russel as well as Jamaican stars Ackera Nugent and Oblique Seville.

 

Runners will be awarded $100,000 for winning a race per event with the prize money going down to $10,000 which will be awarded to the eighth-placed finisher.

 

 

Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone is among the star athletes signed up for Grand Slam Track

Grand Slam Challengers will also be paid a set appearance fee besides the prize money.

 

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Gout Gout admits he doesn’t enjoy the Usain Bolt comparisons (Image: Cameron Spencer/

Australian sprint sensation Gout Gout received an unexpected apology from Lachlan Kennedy after being beaten in a 200-metre dash over the weekend. Gout has been setting the athletics world alight, having shattered a massive 56-year-old national record when he was just 16. The sprinter, who has been compared to Usain Bolt, beat Pete Norman’s longstanding Australian 200m record with a 20.04 second time at the Australian All Schools Championship in Brisbane.

 

 

Recently, Gout has raced alongside Olympian Noah Lyles and inked a lucrative sponsorship deal with Adidas. Yet, the young athlete proved he’s not invincible last weekend, succumbing to fellow Queenslander on the track.

 

Kennedy won the Peter Norman Memorial 200m final on Saturday, clocking a personal best of 20.26 and subsequently apologising for spoiling the party. He told reporters: “I just wanted to give them [the crowd] a good race.

 

“It wouldn’t be fun if he (Gout) just destroyed everyone. I’m sorry if it did spoil it, but what a great race, you can’t be upset with that.”

 

Reflecting on his rare defeat, an upset Gout acknowledged the motivation of coming in second place. He said: “People will say winning feels great, second feels bad and third feels even worse.

 

“So coming second is something you can experience. And it definitely puts fuel to my fire and it lights that burn.”

 

The Australian has been making waves on the track and even drawing comparisons with sprint king Usain Bolt, but he is staying grounded amidst the hype. The rising star admitted he didn’t enjoy the Bolt similarities, as he told 7:30: “I don’t like speaking about it.”

 

He added: “To be honest, I just keep it simple. I’m still a kid, still in high school, so you can’t expect too much from me.”

 

 

Usain Bolt is regarded as one of the greatest sprinters of all time (Image: Getty)

Australian sprint legend Patrick Johnson – the national record holder for the 100 metres dash – has also shared his thoughts on Gout’s rising fame. With his unique insight, Johnson gave some advice to the young athlete, stressing the importance of personal development over fame.

 

 

The 52-year-old said: “He is having his own expectations that he’s compared to Usain Bolt and maybe some of the best in the world, and I’m just saying, ‘be yourself mate’.

 

“In six years, Gout Gout is going to be 24 and there’s a lot that can happen in six years. There’s a long journey in track and field, there’s a lot of ups and downs and every race can’t be a PB, so let’s make sure we support them at every step.”

 

 

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Olympic sprint champions Julien Alfred, Sha’Carri Richardson and Shericka Jackson are set to feature at the Miramar Invitational track and field meet this weekend.

 

Alfred, 23, and 25-year-old Richardson could go head to head for the first time this year after their memorable showdowns in 2024.

 

At Paris 2024, Alfred beat Richardson to Olympic gold in the 100m by 0.15 seconds, and it was then the reverse outcome at the Weltklasse Zurich Diamond League a month later in September.

 

American Richardson also won relay gold in Paris, while Saint Lucia’s Alfred claimed silver in the 200m behind Gabrielle Thomas.

 

Joining the superstar pair in Florida on 5 April will be Jackson, the 30-year-old Jamaican sprinter with five Olympic medals including gold in the 4x100m at Tokyo 2020.

 

Other names entered for the Miramar Invitational include Kishane Thompson, the Jamaican who ran the quickest 100m in 2024 (9.77) and won Olympic silver in the thrilling Paris 100m final.

 

Olympic 400m champion Steven Gardiner, former long jump world champion Tajay Gayle, world shot put silver medallist Danniel Dodd-Thomas and Olympic bronze medallist Rasheed Broadbell are also set to feature in Florida.

 

Olympic gold medallist Noah Lyles didn’t hesistate when asked if he could ever break Usain Bolt’s 100m world record.

 

Nearly 17 years ago, sporting icon Bolt made history as claimed the world record time in a 100 metre sprint with a lighting-fast time of 9.72 seconds at the Reebok Grand Prix in New York.

 

But he wasn’t done there, as he broke his own record another two times during his career, once at the 2008 Beijing Olympics with a time of 9.69 and again in the 100m final and the 2009 World Athletics Championships in Berlin, setting the current world record time of 9.58.

 

Few men have even come close to dethroning Bolt since his iconic sprint in Berlin, but current Olympic champion Lyles believes he could be the man to do it.

 

During the Paris Olympics last summer, the American sprinter took hme the title of the fastest man alive after winning the men’s Olympic gold medal in the 100m event, despite suffering from Covid.

 

Lyles was expected to double his gold tally in Paris at the 200m event, however, he came up short finishing third behind Letsile Tebogo and Kenny Bednarek.

 

 

Regardless, he has always been absolutely adamant that he will someday break Bolt’s record, and he’s explained why.

 

Speaking about the 100m world record in 2023, Lyles said: “I know that I’m going to break it.

 

“The second most-popular, favourite hobby of humans − after watching somebody achieve greatness − is watching them fail.

 

“People love to watch people fail. They just do. I don’t know why.

 

 

 

“It’s just if somebody says they want to do something great, someone’s right there next to say they can’t do it.

 

“I can give zero cares about what other people think.

 

“Because they don’t know me, they don’t know my story, they don’t know what I do, they don’t know how hard I work, how talented I am. But I know.”

 

Noah Lyles took home the gold medal in the men’s 100m at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Noah Lyles took home the gold medal in the men’s 100m at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

 

 

Lyles’ closest attempt at breaking Bolt’s long standing record, is 19.31 – a US record which he set in Eugene in 2022.

 

“I’m going to motivate myself regardless,” Lyles added.

 

“I’m going to win regardless.

 

“I didn’t need a rival at worlds to run 19.3, because there was nobody close to me when that happened.”

 

 

 

However, Bolt’s greatest 100-meter time came in 2009 at the World Athletics Championships. Nearly 16 years later, his incredible time of 9.58 seconds in Berlin remains the world record. Bolt’s 100-meter world record has never been surpassed, but if a contentious rule change is approved, it might be. He reflected on his legendary career on social media amid rumors that he would lose his 100-meter world record.

However, Bolt’s greatest 100-meter time came in 2009 at the World Athletics Championships. Nearly 16 years later, his incredible time of 9.58 seconds in Berlin remains the world record. Bolt’s 100-meter world record has never been surpassed, but if a contentious rule change is approved, it might be. He reflected on his legendary career on social media amid rumors that he would lose his 100-meter world record.

In 2009, Usain Bolt celebrated breaking the previous 100-meter world record. Picture courtesy of Getty On X, Bolt posted a picture of himself crossing the finish line in a race with the comment, “W I N N I N G S.” After the Jamaican sprint legend retired, Marcell Jacobs of Italy and Noah Lyles of the USA won the 100-meter Olympic event in 2021 and 2024, respectively. Lyles won the race at last summer’s Games in Paris, whereas Jacobs won gold for his performance at the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, which were rescheduled to 2021 because of COVID-19.

Bolt thought that if he had gone to Tokyo, he may have won a gold medal in the 100-meter event for the fourth consecutive Olympics.

At the end of my career, I heard something from my coach. “People are not getting faster,” he added. I was moving more slowly. “I never saw it that way,” he remarked. Because many men don’t actually get faster, it’s the facts. For me, 9.80 was achievable since I had already pushed the envelope and then began to travel back in time.”

The 38-year-old stated: “I always show up ready because I think this is the highest level, but I’ve already done everything in the sport so it was all about motivation.”

 

 

Josh Kerr, Dina Asher-Smith, Fred Kerley and Sydney McLaughlin-Levrone have signed up to Grand Slam Track

Michael Johnson and Steve Gera were having lunch at Soho House in Malibu two years ago, looking out over the Pacific Ocean, when they first sketched out a plan for what would become Grand Slam Track.

 

“He pitched me this idea,” recalls Gera, a former US Marine who became a coach and sports executive for several NFL teams and FC Barcelona. “I had the ‘aha’ moment of, oh my god, there is actually nothing in between the Olympics that is the best-of-the-best racers on a consistent basis. Yet this sport is so tremendously popular during the Olympics. Like, what happens?”

 

Grand Slam Track begins this week in Kingston, Jamaica with a bold and brash promise to reinvigorate athletics, or at least part of it. An elite field of runners have signed up for the new track-only league – there are no field events – which will play out across four weekend-long meets in Kingston, Miami, Philadelphia and Los Angeles through April, May and June.

 

Johnson is the face of the project, a legend of the sport who delivered iconic moments gliding around the Atlanta track in 1996 wearing those famous gold shoes. Oddly his profile is now far greater in Britain where he has worked as a popular pundit for the BBC, and this is something of a comeback into the American consciousness.

 

His co-founder Gera is equally serious about the sport and he is bullish in their ambitions. “We are maniacally focused on having the youngest fanbase of any sports league in the world in the next five years,” Gera tells The Independent. “That’s our North Star.”

 

 

They have laid the groundwork for success, raising more than £25m in funding and promising a £10m prize pot with around £77,000 for winning athletes. They have established dates and venues in a crowded calendar, and lured a litany of Olympic medallists including American track stars Gabby Thomas and Kenny Bednarek who will race against British record holders Dina Asher-Smith and Zharnel Hughes.

 

 

TV rights have been sold to major broadcasters covering more than 100 territories, with TNT Sports hosting the show in the UK. Grand Slam Track also has a betting link-up with Chicago-based sports tech company Stats Perform.

 

But the hard part is converting a compelling idea into lasting success, one that builds its own story and prestige, that develops value and meaning with jeopardy worth tuning in for. Making sport profitable, especially new endeavours like this one, is a difficult business.

 

The Saudi-backed LIV Golf had star players and vast investment to go with TV deals and an eye-watering marketing budget, but interest has somewhat petered out as it battles with the PGA Tour and DP World Tour for space and for stars. Why will Grand Slam Track be any different?

 

While it has some big names signed up, there are several missing too. One notable absentee is the men’s Olympic 100m champion Noah Lyles, who questioned the model on a recent podcast episode. “We’re two months out and I’m looking – who are your outside sponsors, who are your non-track and field sponsors? I want to hear, is there a watch deal?”

 

Noah Lyles has not yet been persuaded to join the new league

Noah Lyles has not yet been persuaded to join the new league (AP)

But Gera is confident, pointing to a positive working relationship with the governing body, World Athletics, whose president Lord Coe stated his public support for innovation in the sport. There is no golf-style civil war here, it seems. World Athletics has given Grand Slam Track official status and lists it as a sanctioned event in its calendar.

 

And the event has what Gera insists is a format that will engage young fans. They commissioned detailed research into not only what athletics fans wanted to see more of, but what fans of other sports such as golf and tennis would need to see in order to be enticed to sit down and watch athletics outside of the Olympics.

 

The answer was more stars, more often, racing head to head, which is why the format sees athletes pooled into groups of eight running two distances: those signed up to ‘short sprints’ will run both 100m and 200m, forcing them to battle more than once over a weekend.

 

The TV viewing experience will be endowed with live performance data, which Gera hopes will bring the action to life in new ways.

 

Michael Johnson came up with the idea for Grand Slam Track

Michael Johnson came up with the idea for Grand Slam Track

The exclusion of field events has brought criticism but Johnson has been forthright in his response. “I am going to save what I think I can save,” he said. “I think I can save track, I don’t think I can save track and field.”

 

There were discussions about holding the series in a British city, with London and Birmingham in the frame, but UK Athletics had concerns over the potential cost of staging the event without guaranteed returns, while Gera says a first year in the Americas makes life simpler.

 

 

The official world record has stood since Bolt clocked a time of 9.58 seconds at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany. Luke Alfred Davies Luke Alfred Davies Usain Bolt’s 100m world record has already been beaten by a rival sprinter – although it never counted.

Bolt, 38, is an eight-time Olympic gold medallist and is the 100 and 200m world record holder having secured both records at the 2009 IAAF World Championships in Berlin, Germany. Almost 16 years on, no man has officially recorded a quicker time. However, another athlete has, in fact, bettered Bolt’s 9.58s time but there’s a catch.

Justin Gatlin was a long-term rival of Bolt and did technically run faster than him in 2011 during an appearance on the Japanese TV show Kasupe! – which you watch below

Gatlin, 43, recorded a timing of 9.45 seconds with the help of wind turbines that generated gusts of up to 25 m/s. In contrast, Bolt set a record while running in winds of +0.9 m/s. Ahead of the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, the American declared he was “going to win” Olympic gold.

Gatlin said, “I’m going to win,” “The gold medal will be returned to the United States. We will return it to the United States, specifically to New York and Los Angeles. With it around my neck like a gold chain, we are embarking on a national tour.” This was not the case, though, as Bolt won the 100-meter race in 9.81 seconds, over a tenth of a second faster than second-place finisher Gatlin, who finished in 09.89 seconds. At the IAAF World Championships in London, England, a year later in 2017, Gatlin defeated the Jamaican, who came in third, with an American mark of 9.92 seconds.

Although it would be a tough ask, a controversial potential rule change could aid sprinters in their pursuit of Bolt’s world records.As reported by The Telegraph, a laboratory near Cambridge believes the impossible could be achieved if ‘smart’ tracks are allowed to be used with suggestions that sensors can ‘provide a raft of real-time data that would be transformative to athletes, coaches, fans and media, but early testing has pointed to an energy return that is some 20 per cent greater than existing tracks

 

It has been claimed that Usain Bolt could lose his record over 100 metres

 

Usain Bolt has already made it clear that he is not worried about being stripped of his accolades following claims that he could lose his world record over 100 metres. The legendary sprinter is the fastest man to have ever lived, with nobody coming close to beating his best time. He set his incredible world record of 9.58 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in 2009.

 

 

Tyson Gay and Yohan Blake are the only other sprinters to have achieved times of under 9.70 seconds, doing so in 2009 and 2012 respectively. The fastest time of the current decade was set by American athlete Trayvon Bromell, who clocked 9.76 seconds in 2021. Significantly quicker times could be on the horizon, though, with a new ‘smart’ surface being developed.

 

 

Bolt set his world record of 9.58 seconds at the World Athletics Championships in 2009

Hong Kong-born sprinter Alvina Chen is overseeing the advancement of a digital track with sensors providing real-time data to athletes. It also boasts an energy return which is around 20 per cent greater than existing tracks, based on early testing.

 

“We believe we are creating the first major advancement,” said Chen in an interview with The Telegraph. “With our track, we anticipate that it will be 20 per cent faster than the Paris Olympic track, depending on athlete ability and external conditions.

 

“Our vision is to have the track become the universal standard all over the world. We have the world’s fastest running surface.”

 

Darren Campbell, the head of sprints and relays at British Athletics, believes the ‘smart’ surface could eventually help athletes to obliterate Bolt’s record by running 100 metres in less than nine seconds.

 

He said: “When did we last have some form of technology that isn’t a shoe? This is the innovation I feel that athletics has been waiting for. All of a sudden nine seconds doesn’t seem crazy.”

 

 

Bolt has already shown that he is not bothered about having accolades taken away from him, though. He was previously stripped of the relay gold he won at the Olympics in 2008 after his team-mate Nesta Carter was hit with a doping sanction.

 

Most athletes would be furious with losing a medal through no fault of their own, but Bolt was unmoved because he was convinced that his legacy remained intact.

 

 

“I am disappointed based on losing a medal, but it won’t take away from what I have done throughout my career, because I have won my individual events and that’s the key thing,” he said.

 

“What can you do? I’ve done all I wanted in the sport, I have really impacted the sport, I’ve really accomplished a lot, so for me, I can’t complain.”

 

It suggests that even if another athlete uses the ‘smart’ surface to break Bolt’s record, he will be content in the knowledge that he will always be remembered as one of history’s greatest sprinters.

 

 

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